Friday, February 29, 2008

1.) She doesn't watch television - Why let television raise your kid? Why enable a child to become a couch potato?

2.) She doesn't eat Happy Meals - So what if she doesn't eat Happy Meals? Childhood obesity is what's hot in the streets?

3.) She takes herbs rather than pharmaceutical drugs - So what if she takes herbs? Pill-popping isn't for everyone. If herbalists had a lobby, would this be an issue? If you didn't need a pill for headaches, body aches, constipation, depression, sleeplessness, energy, weight loss, appetite loss, confidence, tight shoes, or bullies, would this be an issue?

4.) She has Scientology play dates and most of her friends are Scientologists - This I don't like but, many people do a poor job of teaching their kids about diversity and tolerance.

Other than number 4, what's really wrong with her upbringing? I'm mad that they had a "cult expert" weighing in on this topic. Please. Is it a cult when members of older religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc.) act the same way?

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Ouch. That was a LOW blow. I'd rather Michelle take the high road and not deviate into using Clinton and right wing-esque tactics. If you're gonna attack, use the issues as your ammo. I think it's much more tasteful and tactful. Hopefully it's not true that Barack stepped out on Michelle cuz there will be egg on her face.

Kingston: I will wear one and I have worn one. I’ll bring one to your next show.

Abrams: But you see my point. I had no idea you were going to show up without a lapel pin, but it seems kind of absurd that you’re saying that Barack Obama’s patriotism should be questioned because he’s not wearing a lapel pin and then you come on the show not wearing one.

The creator of the controversial Stop Snitching! DVD was among 26 people indicated on various charges, including racketeering, for allegedly being members of the Tree Top Bloods gang in Baltimore, Maryland. Over 100 law enforcement officers were deployed yesterday morning (Feb. 28) to execute search warrants and arrest members of the TTP Bloods in Maryland. Ronnie "Skinny Suge" Thomas, 34, was connected to Steve Willock, a 28-year-old Hagerstown man whom prosecutors claim has been running the TTP Bloods gang from the Washington County Detention Center prison since 2000. The explosive indictment claims that just last week, Thomas called another gang member and discussed retaliating against a store owner who refused to sell his Stop Snitching! 2 DVD. The Stop Snitching! DVD sparked a nationwide dialogue about law enforcement in the black community.

It's amazing and disappointing how the disregard for life is so damned popular. Cooperating with authorities and not giving degenerates the license to destroy lives = dumb move to the feeble-minded. Too many stupid people spawn and leave the world to deal with their garbage because they don't wanna raise their kids. I'm scared for the future.

This ia a young woman's personal blog that discusses a forbidden, opposites attract love affair gone sour that produced a bundle of joy. It's very interesting and I love how the writer leaves suspenseful endings to each post. I need something like this right about now since I feel kinda drained from following political news (notice how I haven't posted in days).

Every candidate should receive an adequate amount of security but it should completely understood why Obama's been issued Secret Service protection. That's old news but that picture warrants a healthy fear.

I still don't feel that people should fear voting for him if he's their ideal candidate. You're only doing yourself a disservice by strengthening mind control.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

(CNN) -- A visibly angry Sen. Hillary Clinton lashed out Saturday at Sen. Barack Obama over campaign literature that she said he knows is "blatantly false," while Obama called her outburst "tactical."

Clinton jabbed the air with her hands as she told a crowd in Cincinnati, Ohio, that two Obama mailings spread lies about her positions on universal health care and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"Shame on you, Barack Obama," she said.

Polls show Clinton and Obama are in statistical dead heats in delegate-rich Ohio and Texas, which both hold votes March 4.

With Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland nodding in agreement behind her, Clinton accused Obama of emulating the tactics of Karl Rove, President Bush's former political director who is reviled by Democrats.

"There's nothing in that mailing that is inaccurate," he said, adding that he was puzzled by the sudden scrutiny since the mailers had been around for days, if not weeks.

"We have been subject to constant attack from the Clinton campaign, except for when we were down 20 points. And that was true in Iowa. It was true in South Carolina. It was true in Wisconsin, and it is true now," Obama said.

He described Clinton's anger as "tactical" and defended his campaign.

"The notion that somehow we're engaging in nefarious tactics I think is pretty hard to swallow." Watch Obama respond »

Here's the video of Barack's response in case CNN takes a while to load:

Clinton challenged Obama to "meet me in Ohio, and let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign."

Obama takes heat for skipping State of the Black UnionFrom Sean Callebs

CNN

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- The annual State of the Black Union forum boasted a number of famous attendees in New Orleans on Saturday, but this year's event received much more attention for who wasn't there.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, was the only major presidential candidate to accept an invitation to attend.

Clinton told the crowd Saturday evening the country stands at a historic moment.

"How many of our parents and our grandparents, and how many of us ever thought we would see the day when a woman or an African-American would be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States," she said.Watch Clinton address the forum »

But Clinton also acknowledged experiencing "painful moments" during the campaign, which she called very challenging and incredibly competitive.

"The high stakes and historic nature of Sen. Obama's candidacy and mine have invested this campaign with an intensity and an excitement seldom seen in the political arena," she said.

Meanwhile, Obama's absence at the forum has prompted both controversy and a backlash against Tavis Smiley, the organizer of the event who has openly criticized Obama's decision.

In a letter to Smiley earlier this month, Obama commended the forum for addressing important issues, but explained he needed to focus on his presidential run ahead of the critical March 4 primaries.

"In the final stretch, I will be on the campaign trail every day in states like Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin talking directly with voters about the causes that are at the heart of my campaign and the State of the Black Union forum," Obama wrote.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton strongly defended her husband's record on civil rights Saturday at a forum in which she acknowledged "painful moments" in a presidential contest pitting the first woman candidate against a pioneering black contender.

At the annual State of the Black Union conference hosted by PBS's Tavis Smiley, Clinton pushed back hard on the notion that Bill Clinton had inflamed racial tensions while campaigning for her in the run-up to South Carolina's primary last month.

The former president — once so popular among black voters he was dubbed the first black president by novelist Toni Morrison — harshly criticized Barack Obama in South Carolina, producing a backlash among blacks that helped lead to his wife's crushing defeat there.

After that primary, the former president angered many by suggesting Obama had won the state simply because he was a black candidate campaigning in a state with a large number of black voters. Since then, Clinton has badly lost the black vote to Obama in every primary or caucus — including Louisiana's earlier this month.

Obama won Louisiana's primary by a margin of 57 percent to 36 percent — one of 11 straight victories over Clinton since Super Tuesday Feb. 5.

Questioned by Smiley about her husband's efforts in South Carolina, the former first lady said many of the 5,000 people attending Saturday's conference were personally acquainted with the former president and that they "know his heart."

She noted that the former president has made racial reconciliation a key part of his public life. Whether Clinton would apologize on behalf of America for slavery was a question that bubbled throughout a 1998 trip to Africa. He did not, but rather discussed — in a carefully calibrated approach — the wounds that slavery caused. Clinton did formally apologize to the Tuskegee, Ala., men left untreated for syphilis in a federal study exposed 25 years earlier.

"Most of my African-American friends and advisors don't believe that we should get into what was essentially a press story about whether there should be an apology for slavery in America," he said in a magazine interview a few days before the trip. "They think that that's what the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendment was; they think that's what the civil rights legislation was, and they think we need to be looking toward the future."

Speaking broadly of Bill Clinton on matters of race, she said: "My husband mended, so as to avoid ending, affirmative action. My husband had in his White House, Cabinet, and his administration, many of you I see here. We know that when he was president, we had a rising tide and we lifted more people out of poverty than at any time in America's recent history."

A California Assemblywoman says death of the mother of rapper Kanye West proves that individuals seeking plastic surgery should be required to get a medical clearance from a licensed doctor before they can do so.

An autopsy revealed she likely died of pre-existing heart disease coupled with multiple postoperative factors.

According to the Associated Press, democratic assemblywoman, Wilmer Amina Carter, says Donda West's niece contacted her and asked her to introduce a bill that requires a health check before any cosmetic surgery.

Carter introduced the "Donda West Law" on Friday (February 22).

"I would not in any way cast any negative opinion toward cosmetic surgeons because many of them do it the right way," Carter told local paper, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. "This bill is for those who don't."

Yolanda Anderson, niece of Donda, said that her cousin, Kanye, was enthusiastic about the law and offered support. "[Kanye] is ecstatic and very grateful," she said. "He said, 'You started this. Now run with it and let me know how I can help.'"

Sounds like a good idea. Still, people should do thorough background checks because Dr. Jan Adams was not a reputable doctor. Too many people came forward about their botched surgeries. Omarosa and her mother were on Inside Edition and discussed how he "lacked the proper credentials" to perform surgery.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Obama Defends 'His Rock'APCandidate says his wife's 'proud' statement is being taken out of context

Feb. 20, 2008 -- Democratic Sen. Barack Obama sought Tuesday to clarify his wife's statement that she is proud of the U.S. "for the first time in my adult life." He said her newfound pride is about the political system and was not meant to disparage her country.

He commented after Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, made a veiled reference to Michelle Obama's recent remarks.

Cindy McCain told a Wisconsin rally on Tuesday: "I'm proud of my country, I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier."

Barack Obama, interviewed on WOAI radio in San Antonio, Texas, expressed frustration that his wife's comments became political fodder.

"Statements like this are made and people try to take it out of context and make a great big deal out of it, and that isn't at all what she meant," Obama said.

"What she meant was, this is the first time that she's been proud of the politics of America," he said. "Because she's pretty cynical about the political process, and with good reason, and she's not alone. But she has seen large numbers of people get involved in the process, and she's encouraged."

In Milwaukee on Monday, Michelle Obama said: "Let me tell you, for the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country. Not just because Barack is doing well, but I think people are hungry for change."

Cindy McCain asserted, "I have, and always will be, proud of my country," and repeated the sentiment later in Columbus, Ohio.

I don't find anything wrong with what Michelle said. Non-White males are going to have a different perspective on America and it shouldn't be misconstrued for shame or a lack of pride. What has to be taken into consideration are the life experiences of these individuals who aren't born with White privelage. And what I mean by privelege is social and/or financial capital.

With that said, I do feel that she has to be more careful. Anything can be said and misdirected for media fodder. I doubt that this will cost him a considerable amount of votes but the right wing media is having a field day with her statement.

4. Having an account sent to collectionsCreditors often use third-party debt collectors to try to collect payment from you. Creditors might send your account to collections before or after charging it off. A collection status shows that the creditor gave up trying to get payment from you and hired someone else to do it.

5. Defaulting on a loanLoan defaults are similar to credit card charge-offs. A default shows that you have not fulfilled your end of the loan contract.

7. Having your home foreclosedGetting behind on your mortgage payments will lead your lender to foreclose on your home. In turn, the late payments will hurt your credit score and make it harder to get approved for future mortgage loans.

8. Getting a judgmentA judgment shows you not only avoided your bills, the court had to get involved to make you pay the debt. While they both hurt your credit score, a paid judgment is better than an unpaid one.

9. High credit card balancesThe second most important part of your credit score is level of debt, measured by credit utilization. Having high credit card balances (relative to your credit limit) increases your credit utilization and decreases your credit score.

15. Having only credit cards or only loansMix of credit is 10% of your credit. When you have only one type of credit account, either loans or credit cards, your credit score could be affected. This factor mostly comes into play when you don't have much other credit information in your credit history.

Citoya is a community activist whose goal is to improve the conditions of Dunbar Village. For the safety of herself and her daughter, she needs to be relocated. Please check out her story on Black Women Vote! and make a donation to fund her relocation from Dunbar Village.

Monday, February 18, 2008

The first time Hillary Clinton ran a television ad complaining about Barack Obama's unwillingess to debate in Wisconsin, he fired back with an ad of his own about the 18 debates he's already participated in and the two more that are scheduled.

She wouldn't let it go; her subsequent ad speculated on whether he was reluctant because his health insurance care plan wasn't as good as hers.

At a televised campaign stop, someone asked him how he felt about the ad campaign. Obama, grave-faced and sympathetic in tone, opined that when Senator Clinton was 'feeling down,' she went on the attack to make herself feel better; that is, she committed an error in judgment because she was in a bad mood. That was the moment when I, and other women of a certain age, all over the country, winced.

The change candidate had embraced one of the oldest clichés in the book -- that women are held hostage by emotion, that we can't be trusted with the big decisions because, depending on our age, we're either on the rag or having a hot flash. The overtly sexist position used to be that you didn't want to entrust the red phone to a woman because women are unpredictable and irrational; a fit of hormonal pique and kaboom, we all glow in the radioactive dark. The ones who aren't instantly vaporized, that is.

The kinder, gentler version? A soft-spoken observation about what a female candidate does when she's "feeling down," the implication being that Hillary's distress over the delegate count had impaired her judgment, and that someone who loses her way like that is not strong enough to withstand the rigors of the presidency. If you think that I and the indignant gal friends I've polled are overreacting, try the acid test: Imagine any major candidate making that kind of subtle put-down about a man's psychological fortitude. In 1972, Thomas Eagleton had to have shock treatment to get us to raise a national eyebrow about his mental health, ending his brief tenure as George McGovern's running mate. Short of that, we tend to assume that the boys are steady enough to handle the job.

I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree Ms. Stabiner. I think that this is one of the many problems that people see with feminism. This oversensitivity associated with Women's Lib that impairs judgment and has some women jumping to conclusions serves as a repellent to people who are ignorant to the good that feminism has accomplished. As a woman, I know what it's like to be seen as "emotional" and "illogical." As a Black woman, I doubly understand what it means to be robbed of your right to feel as though my sensibilities have been offended (ironically it's expected) and I know what it feels like to be placed in a victimless state when I've been violated.

Yes, I'm an Obama supporter, but I honestly don't feel that his remark was laden with sexism. If it were a man, I believe he would've said the same thing. As a woman of Nigerian descent, my "sexist pig" radar is rather keen. I think the coded language behind Obama's remark is that Hillary's showing desperation. He could've been blunt and said that's she's arrogant, threatened, desperate, and low on campaign funds, but Obama would rather be a gentleman. Even before these ads, Hillary's shown that she's desperate and threatened by him. If you don't believe me, just consider her and Bill's poor execution of Southern Strategy. What a way to take the Black vote for granted.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Over the past two months African Americans have emerged as equal partners in a multi-racial, intergenerational, bipartisan, national coalition led by the most exciting political candidate of the past four decades, who also happens to be the first viable African-American presidential possibility in our history. So why is Tavis Smiley throwing a temper tantrum?

He is mad because Obama has not promised to attend Smiley's "State of the Black Union" next week in New Orleans. At last year's SOTBU Al Sharpton, Cornel West and others joined Tavis is roundly criticizing Obama for not attending. Where was Barack that weekend? Oh yeah, he was announcing his bid for the U.S. presidency. This year, Obama is busy trying to win Texas, which has emerged as the firewall state for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Obama wins Texas; Hillary goes home. But Tavis & Co. think Obama should spend precious hours chatting with them about their agenda?

(Jimi Izrael wondered the same thing about him and the other Popes of Blackness.) Let me be clear: I respect the importance of the SOTBU. Tavis performs an essential public service by creating and reproducing a critical black counter-public through this event. The event is decidedly democratic because it is open to a true variety of black voices. Every year it showcases black intellect, commitment and ideological diversity. All this is great, but it doesn't make Tavis the gatekeeper. It certainly doesn't give him the right to act as King-Maker, or in this case Queen-Maker.

Tavis and his guests have every right to criticize Obama if they have substantive disagreements with his policy, his approach to politics or his viability as a general election candidate. They do not have a right to create a false, racial litmus test. All these black leaders who spent the year telling us that Obama is not old enough, not black enough and not angry enough to earn African American votes must have noticed that Obama can deliver the black vote to himself, by himself, with little help from these self-proclaimed racial power brokers.

I can't quite figure out what motivates Tavis. At least I understand the old guard Civil Rights leaders. They are genuinely unwilling to cede power, believing that they have an authenticity claim based on their proximity to Martin Luther King, Jr. I also understand the frightened Democratic insiders who rely on the remnants of the Clinton machine for their bread and butter. But Tavis is not in either category. He is a part of a new generation of journalists who have carved out their own constituency. I am actually surprised to see Smiley join a pile-on led by his former boss Bob Johnson, who tried to silence him with such an ungracious termination a decade ago.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - Harold Ickes, a top adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign who voted for Democratic Party rules that stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates, now is arguing against the very penalty he helped pass.

In a conference call Saturday, the longtime Democratic Party member contended the DNC should reconsider its tough sanctions on the two states, which held early contests in violation of party rules. He said millions of voters in Michigan and Florida would be otherwise disenfranchised — before acknowledging moments later that he had favored the sanctions.

Ickes explained that his different position essentially is due to the different hats he wears as both a DNC member and a Clinton adviser in charge of delegate counting. Clinton won the primary vote in Michigan and Florida, and now she wants those votes to count.

"There's been no change," Ickes said. "I was not acting as an agent of Mrs. Clinton. We had promulgated rules and those rules said the timing provision ... provides for certain sanctions, automatic sanctions as a matter of fact, if a state such as Michigan or Florida violates those timing provisions."

"With respect to the stripping, I voted as a member of the Democratic National Committee. Those were our rules and I felt I had an obligation to enforce them," he said.

Olbermann awarded Coulter "Worst Person" "bronze" for "B. HusseinObama" references, and said, "Then we put her on this network today so she could do it again"

On the February 14 edition of MSBNC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermannawarded right-wing pundit Ann Coulter the "bronze" in his nightly "Worst Personin the World" segment for her reference to Democratic presidential candidateSen. Barack Obama as "B. Hussein Obama" five separate times and as "PresidentHussein" during a February 13 appearance on Fox News' Your World, as MediaMatters for America documented.Olbermann then stated, "Then we put her on this network today so she could do itagain."Olbermann named Laura Ingraham the "runner-up" for stating on theFebruary 13 edition of her nationally syndicated radio show that President Bush"welcomed [Rev.] Al Sharpton to the White House. I hope they nailed down all thevaluables." Olbermann added, referring to Ingraham: "I know you and Coulterthink you're satirists, but you do realize that if you're really not racist, youare enabling racism there."Olbermann named Fox News Radio's Tom Sullivan,host of The Tom Sullivan Show, the "Worst Person" "winner" for playing a"side-by-side comparison" of an Adolf Hitler speech and an Obama speech on hisFebruary 11 broadcast.

Still, I question the authenticity of mAnn Coulter and others of her ilk. I wonder "She can't really be this idiotic" but then I reflect on some of the strange and thoughtless comments I've heard from the callers on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. She really is an idiot.

The interviewer expected to pull off a successful railroad and failed. Notice how he repeatedly cut Derrick off. Derrick maintained composure and is a fine example of young people NOT being ignorant to the issues. Props.

Less than 24 hours after she repeatedlyreferred to Sen. Barack Obama as "B. Hussein Obama" and "President Hussein,"right-wing pundit Ann Coulterappeared on the February 14 broadcast of MSNBC News Live to discuss former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (AZ). During her appearance, on-screen text highlighted her February 8 assertion in a speech she made to the Young America's Foundation that Obama "wouldn't be running for president if he weren't half-black." The on-screen text read:"COULTER: OBAMA WOULDN'T BE RUNNING IF HE WERE NOT HALF BLACK."

(Source)Last week, she also noted that Obama's first accomplishment was being born half-Black:

On February 8, less than 12 hours after her appearance on NBC's Todayshow, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter delivered a speech to the Young America'sFoundation in which she referred to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (IL) as "B. Hussein Obama" and asserted, "His strongest selling point is that he is one of the least dangerous people I know named Hussein." As the blog Think Progress noted, Coulter went on to say: "Other than that, Barack's really been kind of coasting on his record, since his first big accomplishment of being born half-black. I keep hearing people say, 'Oh, Obama could never be elected because he's half-black. You know, 'cause we're just such a racist country.' What are they talking about? He wouldn't be running for president if he weren't half-black. He'd be [Sen.] Dick Durbin [D-IL] with less experience." The speech was broadcast live on the Townhall.com.

After the resignation of Kelly's longtime publicist, Regina Daniels, her husband, music retailer George Daniels, speaks out about Kells' inappropriate relationship with their daughter.

"He crossed the line with my daughter," Daniels told local Los Angeles radio station KJLH. "It didn't get to the extreme of that [sex tape] video or else I wouldn't be here, if you know what I'm talking about."

In November, Regina Daniels released a press release indicating that Kelly "crossed a line that forever altered the scope of our relationship." Now, George Daniels tells KJLH that Kells took advantage of his then 21-year-old daughter.

"When you're 21, and if you've been there already like I've been many years ago, you're still 15 to 16 mentally," Daniels added. "You're vulnerable."

Daniels and his wife ultimately got the truth from their daughter after much hearsay and speculation, but when Daniels questioned Kelly on the issue, he got a different story.

"He denied it," Daniels said."He lied to me to my face."

Despite the private nature of the issue, Daniels said he has decided to speak out for the sake of other families.

Child please. They didn't mind when he: 1.) videotaped himself urinating on the face of Sparkle's then 14-year-old niece, 2.) made trips to his old high school to seduce minors, 3.) hung out at the Rock 'n' Roll McDonalds to seduce underaged girls after their proms, and 4.) married Aaliyah when she was 15. They didn't mind so long as the checks he cut them didn't bounce. He'd crossed the line with other people's children but now you're angry because he became involved with your ADULT child? Now you want want to speak for the sake of others? Cut the shit.

CNN learned the negotiations that led to the Romney endorsement included a prominent role by John Weaver, who was McCain's top political strategist until he was forced out in a campaign shakeup last summer.

Updated The gloves are off. Hillary Rodham Clinton just released her first TV ad specifically attacking Barack Obama.

In her latest spot for Wisconsin, she criticizes him for not signing on to a debate at Marquette University in Milwaukee.

“Maybe he’d prefer to give speeches than have to answer questions,” the announcer says.

Why the request for more debates? Are we being frugal with the $6.4 million you raised which paid off the $5 million you loaned yourself last week? Are we telling on ourselves, Hill?

Obama's campaign responds to latest attack ad:

Senator Obama and Senator Clinton have debated 18 times already and have agreed to two more debates in the next three weeks. It’s telling that Senator Obama is spending the day offering substantive ideas on how to fix the housing crisis, offer relief to middle-class families and end the outsourcing of Wisconsin jobs, while Senator Clinton is playing the same old Washington games.

Senator Clinton’s attacks won’t help pass universal health care, or restore one Wisconsin job that has been lost due to trade agreements like NAFTA that she supported.

Nice response from Obama's camp. Now, again, why the request for more debates? Obama's agreed to two debates already. Can the man continue on with his campaign trail without the presumption of fear?

Growing up, I admired Hillary. She didn't assume the traditional role of being the First Lady, she seemed bright, and she just had a strength about her that I admired. Things have changed since then. The more that I follow her campaign and the more that I learn about her and Bill, the more disappointed I become. I really felt like I knew her. I guess you don't know anyone until they're desperate.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) -- The official New York City condom has a different look and a sexy new slogan: New Yorkers are being encouraged to "get some'' on Valentine's Day.

1010 WINS AUDIO: Carol D'Auria Reports

Street teams will be handing out the free condoms at busy hubs around the city on Thursday, including Times Square, Wall Street and near City Hall.

And an ad campaign on television, radio and subways and buses will soon begin, featuring the "Get some'' catchphrase.

"We want to give away as many condoms as people will use because we're trying to make New York City an even safer place to have sex, and this is a powerful way to do it,'' said Monica Sweeney, the Health Department's assistant commissioner for HIV prevention and control.

The city has made free condoms available for years, but last year revamped the package with a distinct look to encourage usage.

The first design was a black wrapper stamped with the letters "NYC CONDOM'' in the same font and bright colors used on city subway maps and signs.

Since it was launched a year ago, the Health Department has handed out more than 36 million condoms, or an average of 3 million each month.

My Brother the Superdelegate and Why I Don't Trust Him to Pick the Next President

by Ari Emanuel

My brother Rahm Emanuel is a superdelegate. I love my brother, and I trust my brother. But I gave up letting my brother dictate my life since he determined whether he got the top or bottom bunk in our bedroom back in Chicago.

So, as much as I love and respect him, I don't trust him and his fellow superdelegates to decide for me and the American people who should be the Democratic nominee -- and, therefore, most likely the next president of the United States.

I want voters to make that decision. The superdelegates, my brother included, have not been elected by anybody to name the nominee. They've either been appointed by theParty or, as in my brother's case, have automatically inherited the role simply because they are elected officials. This isn't the place to debate the entire history of superdelegates. Suffice it to say, however, they were created by the Party machine decades ago for the express purpose of giving Party insiders the ability to thwart the popular will.

After what Democrats went through in Florida in 2000, we should be the first to reject any such funny business. We should be as opposed to superdelegates changing the course of an election as we were to the Supreme Court appointing George W. Bush president. (Source)

I agree. I'm not at all fond of the role of the superdelegates. I want my vote to count and superdelegates should vote in the likeness of their constituents.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Obama wins primaries clean sweepBarack Obama has won theDemocratic primary polls in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia,according to US media projections and early results.

The results will be a blow to rival Hillary Clinton, who has now lost a string of contests to Mr Obama.

Senator Clinton is looking ahead to primaries in Ohio and Texas on 4 March in the hope of reversing her fortunes.

For the Republicans, front-runner John McCain has beaten Mike Huckabee in all three races, according to projections.

With results counted in three-quarters of Virginia's precincts, Mr McCain led by 48% to Mr Huckabee's 43%.

A victory means he will claim all of the winner-take-all state's 60 delegates, extending his significant lead in terms of the number of delegates who will vote for him at the party's national convention.

As a consultant to several African-American elected officials, Axelrod's career has been steeped in racially charged elections. And he said Obama had confronted racial politics during the campaign that propelled him to the Senate, where he is only the third black elected since Reconstruction.

Axelrod said he had learned there was "a certain physics" to winning votes across racial lines. Previous campaigns by African-Americans - by the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Reverend Al Sharpton - had overwhelmingly relied on black support that wound up defining, and confining, their candidacies. By contrast, from the moment Obama stepped onto the national political stage, he has paid much attention to a far broader audience.

"He believes you can have the support of the black community, appealing to the pride they feel in his candidacy, and still win support among whites," Axelrod said.

Questions about Obama's "blackness," though, quickly threatened to obscure the reasons he believed himself most qualified to become the next president of the United States.

A Rolling Stone article linked him to the militant preaching of his pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. The article quoted the minister as saying in a sermon, "Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run."

Axelrod said he talked with Obama about taking Wright off the program for the campaign announcement in January 2007, arguing that his presence might distract from efforts to portray the senator as a candidate capable of unifying the country.

Free Black History Month Multimedia Resources Available Online for Parents and Teachers

BALTIMORE, Feb 11, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Connections Academy(R: 58.72, -0.03, -0.05%) (CA: 24.25, -0.02, -0.08%), a leading national operator of high quality, highly accountable virtual public schools, is offering parents and teachers a wealth of free multimedia educational resources to celebrate Black History Month. The curricular resources, developed for Connections Academy's recent celebration of the 19th Annual African American Read-In, will be available free of charge to parents and educators for the entire month of February, Black History Month.

I know that I'm kinda late with the videos but I got fed up with digging for them and waiting for them to be placed on CNN.

Make note of how he constantly interrupts her and constantly tries to change the subject to win an argument and save face.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Lou Dobbs needs to be checked for engaging in irresponsible journalism. You can't use crazed, racist vigilantes to substantiate your arguments about immigration reform. You can't use White supremacists to give your argument legs to stand on. You can't promote xenophobia and not expect people to pick up on it. I'm happy that Murguia is taking him, CNN, and Fox to task for what they're doing. Poison shouldn't have a place on the airwaves.

A few years ago, I’d received a forwarded email from my friend about the Voting Rights Act expiring in 2007. I wonder if Nas got the same forwarded email which serves as nothing more than misinformation.

Here’s the email:

As everyone should be aware, in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voters Rights Act. This was created to allow Blacks the right to vote. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed an amendment to extend this right for an additional twenty-five years. You guessed it . . . In 2007 (ten years from now),Congress will decide whether or not Blacks should retain the right to vote. In order for this to be passed, thirty-eight states will have to approve an extension. For me, as well as many others, this was the first time that we had heard this — thus, bringing concern to all of us! What many Blacks before us fought and even died for as well as the milestones that we, as Blacks have achieved, this can be taken away from us . . . AGAIN!

If this issue has taken you by surprise as well, I encourage YOU to contact your Congressperson, alderperson, senator — anyone in government, that you put your vote behind and ask them what are they doing to — firstly, to get the extension and furthermore, make our right to vote a LAW. This has to become a law in order for our right to vote to no longer be up for discussion, review and/or evaluation. (Remember: Blacks are the only group of people who require permission under the United States Constitution to vote!)

As Black people, we cannot “drop the ball” on this one! We have come too far to be forced to take such a large step back. So, please let’s push on and forward to continue to build the momentum towards gaining equality.

Please pass this on to others, as I am sure that many more individuals are not aware of this.

It’s now 2008, and we can still vote. This is the reason why we can still vote:

The remedy to this injustice was President Lyndon Johnson’s proposal — and Congress’ passage — of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It didn’t guarantee blacks the right to vote; they’d already held that right since the ratification of the 15th Amendment ninety-five years earlier. The Voting Rights Act provided for enforcement of that right. The Voting Rights Act authorized the federal government to send federal registrars to counties where local registrars refused to accept the registration of black voters, to send observers to monitor elections and ensure that blacks were allowed to vote (and that their votes were actually counted), and to mandate that certain areas obtain the approval of the Attorney General before making changes to their voting requirements or procedures. The Voting Rights Act was never intended to be in force permanently.It was initially effective for a period of five years; that period was later extended for another five years, then another seven years, and finally for another twenty-five years, ending in 2007. Even if the Voting Rights Act is not extended again in 2007, this will not mean that the right to vote will “be taken away” from blacks — it will simply mean that the federal government will no longer require states to seek federal approval before changing their voting laws. We should see this as a positive — that we as a society have finally (if slowly and painfully) progressed to the point we no longer need to take special measures to ensure that every citizen has a fair opportunity to participate in a democratic voting process. There are times when we should get all riled up about what our government is doing, but this isn’t one of them. (Source)

I checked with Snopes after receiving that email, and forwarded that link to my friend and everyone she emailed. Every so often, it’s nice to get an email that informs us to take action but we can’t accept everything that’s fed to us. We have to be certain that we take action against something that’s an actual threat.

Here’s the John Lennon song that Kelis brought up:

“Woman Is the Nigger of the World”

How true are these lyrics? Props to John Lennon. Also, props to Yoko Ono for inspiring this song.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS — A state lawmaker used a derogatory term Wednesday to describe unmarried teen parents as sexually promiscuous and complained that society condones premarital sex.

"In my parents' day and age, (unmarried teen parents) were sent away, they were shunned, they were called what they are," Republican Rep. Larry Liston said during a GOP legislative caucus meeting in Denver. "There was at least a sense of shame."

Liston continued: "There's no sense of shame today. Society condones it ... I think it's wrong. They're sluts. And I don't mean just the women. I mean the men, too."

Rep. Stella Garza Hicks, who was at the meeting, said Liston should apologize.

"I feel that he owes the apology somewhere, whether it's to the same group that he spoke to before or someone else," she told The Gazette of Colorado Springs.

Garza Hicks, R-Colorado Springs, said she was "disturbed" and "offended" by the word but didn't confront Liston at the time because she was so surprised to hear him use it.

The Rocky's Capitol blogger today asked Liston if his mother would approve of his use of the word.

"Actually, my mother would agree with me," he said as he hurried to a committee hearing.

"Maybe I could have a used a different word, but I was frustrated," Liston said. "And that was the word that came to my mind, because in the old days, you know, it was frowned upon." (Source)

Old school scare tactics will not work and never really did. Shaming someone into obscurity doesn't even scratch the surface.

I think talking to your kids abou sex is very helpful. If you know your kids are having sex, teach them how to use contraception. The problem that I see with a lot of parents is that they feel that arming their kids with knowledge is encouragement. Not the case. If you feel it is, say "hello" to your future grandbabies because you are welcoming the possibility. Or worse, be ready to deal with your child contracting an STD/STI on YOUR WATCH.

Also, I think young girls need to be taught self-worth. Too many of these girls fall for the "I love you" crap. Boys need to be taught responsibility. Teenage pregnancy is not just the girl's problem. And I really wish parents would stop encouraging these boys to be sex-crazed animals. "Oh he's just sowing his wild oats." Yeah, sowing his oats and planting seeds along the way. Now, isn't that just cute?

Something that can accompany unwanted pregnancies are unwanted diseases. Both of them are preventable. My old high school is considered an STD factory and has a sizable HIV/AIDS population. And just imagine the number of them who have children. I know that population's grown since my graduation.

I hope that scares the hell out of parents cuz we CANNOT afford to be regressive and ashamed when dealing with today's youth.

A candidate may "suspend" his or her campaign rather than dropping out, and technically remain a candidate. In this case, he or she is entitled to keep any statewide pledged delegates as well as their district-level delegates.

Candidates who officially drop out must forfeit statewide delegates. (Source)

Which is it? Both sites are supported by CNN so I don't understand the inconsistency.

Among Latino and Asian American circles, Super Tuesday brought a sense of giddiness. Thanks to the central importance of California to the primary elections, here was a chance to not just be heard, but to be recognized as a voting bloc right up there with the privileged masses of Iowa or New Hampshire. Boy, did they make some noise.

In California, while Obama took a plurality of white voters (including white males) and the overwhelming majority of African American voters, Hillary won the popular vote by 8 points. So how did Hillary make her 10% margin of victory? A big part of the answer was in the Latino and Asian American votes. A CNN exit poll last night indicated that Latinos in California went for Hillary by a 2-1 margin, and Asian Americans went for her 3-1. Democratic polls showed Hillary winning Latinos by 3-1.

Soon we'll be hearing a number of crackpot theories as to why this was so. Are Latinos and Asian Americans in fact slightly more conservative on immigration issues than everyone previously thought? Ridiculous. Are Latinos and Asian Americans unwilling to bring themselves to vote for a Black man? Get out of here with that.

The reason Hillary won is because the Latino and Asian American votes remain emergent, not yet insurgent.

Emergent voting blocs respond to leaders in their community. If the candidate wins the leader, she wins her followers. Insurgent voting blocs instead respond to calls for change, and may focus more on single issues or agendas. If a candidate stakes out a good position, she captures the community. Hillary played the politics of emergence.

Early, she locked down important leaders in the Latino and Asian American communities. In Los Angeles, that meant securing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's support, and the predominantly Latino unions that have supported him. She also landed the support of Fabian Nunez and Dolores Huerta. In San Francisco, that meant seizing on Mayor Gavin Newsom's popularity amongst Asian Americans. She also captured a who's who of Asian American elected officials starting with Controller John Chiang and moving on down. Just as important, Hillary's campaign locked up a huge number of the leading Latino and Asian American party operatives--the people who actually deliver the voters. (Source)

I was thinking that maybe it was a generational divide among both groups but I don't think so after reading both articles. The generational divide could still be there along with Clintonmania and possible bigotry but him not showing enough interest in their leaders or their functions is more than likely a huge factor. This could be taken as a dismissal of their vote and their significance and no one likes to be snubbed. People will support you only if you recognize them.

Barack needs to get to work. It's never too late to start gaining support so I suggest he starts NOW.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

50 Cent, Dave Matthews, Perez Hilton, Others Endorse Candidates For Super Tuesday: 50 throws his support behind Hillary Clinton: 'I just think she could do a good job.'By Garth Bardsley, with additional reporting by Gil Kaufman

While the press has been monitoring politicians as they endorse each other for president in advance of Super Tuesday, MTV News has rounded up a series of last-minute election choices geared especially for the pop culture-oriented.

On "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night, Bill O'Reilly showed footage of 50 Cent giving his endorsement to Hillary Clinton. "I just think she could do a good job," said the rapper, who added that he has nothing against Barack Obama but thinks America isn't ready for an African-American president. "I think they might kill him," he said.

Late last year, 50 spoke in favor of the former first lady to Rap Up magazine, among other outlets. "I'd like to see Hillary Clinton be president," he said. "It would be nice to see a woman be the actual president and ... this is a way for us to have Bill Clinton be president again, and he did a great job during his term."

Being scared for Obama's life is silly. Like Michelle Obama said, as a Black man, Obama could be killed at a gas station. A lot of the older Black generation feels this same way. It's just sad how regressive people can be. Or to use a better word, fearful. We shouldn't be so fearful. Imagine the likes of MLK, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Harriet Tubman, and countless others not standing up for what they believe in. I'm grateful to them for having the gumption to stand up for what you believe in. Also, props must be given to those who still don't cower to the establishment.

Fear should never serve as a hinderance. That's simply not a way to live.

This was forwarded to me this morning and this pretty much speaks to how I feel about the Clinton machine.

Sharper than a Serpent's Toothby Stephen Pizzo January 15, 2008

Let me start out by saying this column is going to really piss some people off. But I am calling it how I see it. And this is how I see it.

A couple of hundred years ago, back in the old South, white folk made a distinction between "good" negroes and the not-so-good negroes. "Good" negroes stayed in line, were deferential to whites and didn't make trouble. Those were the negroes whites assigned jobs in and around their houses, rather than in the fields. They even had a term for them -- though I have to clean it up a bit: "house negroes."

White's of the old South took it for granted that their house-servant slaves were grateful, loyal and even held genuine affection for their masters. So it was a rude awakening when, after Lincoln freed the slaves, those freed house servants packed up and left to strike out on their own.

Many whites were genuinely surprised, even hurt that their former servants, nannies and groundskeepers had turned their backs on them.

A kind of grieving process then played out. First many former white slave owners were hurt at what they felt was a shocking display of ingratitude. Then came dismay. After all, who was going to raise the kids, cook and clean now?

Then, as that reality sunk in, they became angry, striking out, saying and trying whatever they could to assure that lives of freedom their former servants sought would be as miserable, unfulfilling and unsuccessful as possible.

That was then. Now, 150 years later, we're watching a similar drama play out on the political stage.

The Clintons and their institutional Democratic Party old guard shocked, insulted, even hurt that black Americans might prefer upstart Barack Obama over the next in line, Hillary Clinton. The national Democratic Party machine had other plans for this election cycle. Democratic Party insiders were fixing to put the first white woman in the White House, not the first black man.

But then guess who came to dinner. Barack Obama, a smart, attractive and inspirational young black man stepped up and announced he'd like a shot too. Imagine their chagrin when blacks, joined by millions of white Americans, started voting for the black guy.

Until then the Democratic Party pointed with pride at the Obama candidacy as proof that the party was more racially open than the all-white GOP line up. That all changed when people actually started voting for him in alarmingly high numbers. Particularly worrisome was the growing number of black voters switching from Hillary to Barack.

No machine Democrat was more hurt and dismayed by this turn of events than the party's heir apparent, Hillary Clinton. After Barack Obama beat her in Iowa, she let go of the hurt and moved straight on to anger. It was time to remind African-American voters not only which side their bread has been buttered on, and just who had buttered it "for them" in the first place.

"Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act," she said, adding that "it took a president to get it done." (Hillary Clinton)

What she left out of that remark was inferred; "and it took a white, Democrat President to get it done for y'all."The same week Hillary dropped that bomb husband Bill took his own swipe, describing the Obama phenomena "the biggest fantasy I've ever seen."

The Clintons realized that they were losing their grip on a constituency they believed they owned. So Hillary quickly put her remaining black supporters front and center to put a black face back on the Clinton campaign, and to defend both her and Bill from the black backlash their remarks last week caused.

Black Entertainment Televsions Founder Slams ObamaCOLUMBIA, S.C. — Robert L. Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, who is campaigning today in South Carolina with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, just made a suggestion that raised the specter of Barack Obama’s past drug use. -- And to me, as an African-American, I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues since Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood –­ and I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in the book –­ when they have been involved.” (

During those remarks -- which, had they made by a white businessman, would have caused a monumental uproar -- Hillary Clinton sat on stage expressionless. Had she disagreed with the thrust of Johnson's remarks she could have disassociated herself from them. But she didn't. Instead, when he was done she applauded and hugged him.

And why not. After all, he, a successful black man, had just reinforced the subliminal message her campaign would not dare articulate itself. A message that went something like this:

-360 While blacks have moved into the American mainstream, they largely have white Democrats, like Hillary and Bill, to thank for it.

-360 And that while blacks have made a lot progress over the years, they are still not "ready" to run the nation.

-360 And, in case that didn't get you back on the Democratic Party plantation, remember -- Obama was a druggie when he was younger.

Deeper in the bowls of the Clinton campaign, where hurt has turned to anger, a more dangerous strategy was emerging -- one designed to send a message to white Democratic voters. If you thought only Republicans like Karl Rove still played the racist card, forget about it. When the chips are down -- and they are down now for Hillary Clinton -- the Clintons and their surrogates know how to push those buttons too.

Many pundits wondered why the Clintons would risk alienating the black community on the eve of the South Carolina primary with their slaps at MLK and Obama. Others suggested that Bill told Hillary she needed her own Sister Soulja moment to show white voters, particularly in South Carolina, that she is not in the pocket of African-American interest groups.And, in the process, also rekindle white working class fear and resentment towards a black candidate. Such a tactic might also appeal to the now disaffected working class Reagan Democrats who, after years of being screwed blue by the GOP were looking for a "safe" Democrat to vote for next November.

So last week the Clintons pulled out all the stops, sending their surrogates out to spread their subliminal-message attacks against Obama. Democratic New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo waded in on Hillary's behalf last week as well, using language that could hardly have been accidental from a guy whose father is one of America's great orators:

"It's not a TV crazed race. Frankly you can't buy your way into it," Cuomo said, according to Albany Times Union reporter Rick Karlin. "You can't shuck and jive at a press conference," he added. "All those moves you can make with the press don't work when you're in someone's living room."

"Shuck and jive" is a term once used to describe blacks behaving innocently in the presence of an white authority figures, so as to lie and get out of trouble.

(Irony alert: Of course Hillary Clinton is married to the biggest shuck and jive artist ever to grace the Oval Office -- as displayed in his greatest hits -- "Now listen to me. I did NOT have sex with that woman...." and the all time classic -- "it depends what the meaning of 'is' is." It's a political art form Hillary herself is no stranger to. Just ask her to explain her vote to give George W. the right to attack Iraq and her more recent vote on Iran if you want to hear some world class shucking and jiving. But I digress.)

Nothing happens by accident in a Clinton campaign. Last week was all about raising doubts about Hillary's young black opponent. More and more black voters are -- if you'll excuse the term -- taking a shine to Obama. The national polls show voters moving his way, at her expense.

When things go wrong in a Clinton campaign the first thing they do is crunch and dissect the numbers. They now know that if Hillary is going to have a chance at beating Obama, they will have to beat him ---beat him up. They will have to say and encourage others to say, whatever it takes to scare as many of their now wavering black supporters back onto the Clinton plantation.

But they also know that many black Americans, likely a majority, will jump at the chance to make history. Not the first white woman President kind of history, but the first African American President kind of history. So, the numbers say to they also need to round up enough white voters to dilute Obama's surge among African Americans.

And how do you convince whites to shun a black candidate? Well some whites are already so inclined. For the rest the Clintons understand they need to cunningly leverage old racial stereotypes in order to raise doubts about Obama's character and abilities. To do that requires great skill and even greater deception and deceit. It requires a social/political witch's brew of connivance and hypocrisy:

-360 Repeatedly chant "he's not ready."

-360 Add a dash of "they (black Americans) couldn't have done it if we white liberals hadn't done it for them."

-360 Drop reminders, as Clinton campaign manager, Mark Penn did on Chris Matthew's show of past drug use while denying it matters: "We are running a clean campaign," Penn told Matthew's, "We are not, for example, going to bring up Sen. Obama's former cocaine use."

-360 Wink and nod to white voters that Hillary is one of them and not in the pocket of African-American interest groups. And what better way to do that than to diminish the role of Martin Luther King.